Interactive Brokers' Q2 earnings jump as clients trade more

Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR) had diluted earnings of $0.69 a share for the quarter ended June 30. That is up from $0.51 a year earlier. The automated brokerage had higher numbers because of more customer trading and a bigger margin loan book.

The results are important for IBKR shareholders and for anyone tracking how retail and professional traders fared during the quarter, and they come as the firm pushes further into crypto.

Commissions and interest income drive the profit jump

Reported and adjusted diluted EPS were both $0.69, the company said in a July 21 release carried by Business Wire. Net revenues were $1.90 billion on a reported basis and $1.88 billion on an adjusted basis, compared to $1.48 billion in the year-ago quarter. Pretax profit rose to $1.46 billion from $1.10 billion.

The pretax profit margin was unchanged at 77%, two points above the 75% recorded a year ago. Equity was $22.3 billion. A Reuters report called the quarter a profit jump driven by strong trading activity. The board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0875 per share. It will be paid September 14 to holders of record September 1.

Commission revenue rose 30% to $673 million on higher customer trading volumes. Options volume was up 17%, stock volume was up 14% and futures were up 2%.

Net interest income, IBKR’s other engine, grew 23% to $1.06 billion, driven by larger average customer margin loans and larger customer credit balances. Other fees and services rose 40% to $87 million. That increase was helped by higher payments for order flow from exchange-mandated programs, risk exposure fees and market data fees.

Not all of the lines were clean. Execution, clearing and distribution fees increased 22% to $142 million. That increase included a $19 million rise in higher regulatory fees, which increased after the SEC raised its Section 31 transaction fee rate on April 4, 2026. That increase was partly offset by a bigger liquidity rebate capture from some exchanges.

Margin loans surge as IBKR expands into crypto

Account base increased 34% to 5.19 million. Customer equity increased 40% to $930.3 billion. Total daily average revenue trades, or DARTs, the typical measure of how active a broker’s clients are, jumped 36% to 4.82 million.

Balance sheet activity was even faster. Customer margin loans rose 67% to $108.5 billion. Customer credits were up 27% to $182.4 billion. Those margin balances are feeding straight back into the net interest income line that drove much of the quarter.

Other Income increased 88% to $79 million. That included $26 million from the firm’s currency diversification strategy and $11 million from investing activities. Interactive Brokers’ net worth is based on what it calls GLOBALs, a basket of 10 major currencies. The GLOBAL’s dollar value fell about 0.21% this quarter, reducing comprehensive earnings by $36 million.

The quarter ends a period during which Interactive Brokers has been blending digital assets with a traditional brokerage. In December, Cryptopolitan reported that the company had moved to enable US retail investors to fund brokerage accounts using direct stablecoin deposits. Transfers are directly from self-custodial wallets, no bank connection required.

That puts IBKR in the company of Robinhood and Charles Schwab in courting crypto curious clients. It currently trades Paxos assets, still requiring a fiat step to move into crypto. Cryptopolitan said the company also runs prediction markets, separate from on-chain platforms. Interactive Brokers describes itself as an automated global broker, with operations in more than 170 markets. It’s part of the S&P 500.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.